I’m a Short-term Pessimist, but a Long-term Optimist
This is an excerpt from my book, ‘Success Begets Success’, now available on Amazon.
“The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
Be a short-term pessimist and a long-term optimist. I call this ‘Pragmatic Success Attitude (PSA)’.
This way of thinking gives you hope, and at the same time you will have a pinch of doubt that will keep you on your toes and not fall into complacency.
I know that a positive mental attitude is far better than being negative about every situation that I am facing. But every time I tell myself not to think about anything negative, the first thing that pops up in my mind is a negative thought.
I am sure after hearing about ‘The Secret’ or any newage self-help book, you know how difficult it is to maintain a positive mental attitude consistently.
The very concept of only allowing positive thoughts into your head will make you fragile. The negative thoughts will simply pounce on you. Your mind automatically will conjure up all sorts of worst-case scenarios.
This is in spite of your guru telling you to allow only positive thoughts.
In fact, it is because of this strict adherence to thinking only positive thoughts that we end up creating these negative thoughts. As you might have already realised, if negative thoughts are coming by, you simply cannot run away from it. The more you avoid them, the stronger they grow on you.
Instead I recommend you to embrace negative thoughts and not to run away from them. Use the ‘Pragmatic Success Attitude’ and allow yourself the permission to face these thoughts head-on.
What do I mean by that?
I want you to be a Pessimist, to start with.
- I want you to develop a negative mindset.
- I want you to question everything, doubt everything.
- I want you to expect the worst and be prepared for it.
Be cut-throat and rational about what you think, what society asks you to think and how they want you to act. Dissect and analyse everything.
But limit that possibility to your nearest future — today, for the week/ month/ the year.
On the other hand, I also want you to be an Optimist. Despite the stupidity of the current world, the negativity that surrounds you…
- Always holds the beautiful vision of a successful life.
- Always anticipate the best possible outcome in the future.
- Always be planning, always be strategizing.
No matter what happens, you should have the unwavering faith in what you want to achieve. Set a time horizon for the next 5–10 years or even 50 years.
You should believe that “your success is inevitable”.
Most of the time, people do the opposite.
They are short-term optimists. But long-term pessimists. Especially fuelled by the half-baked ideas, people delude themselves. They refuse to see negativity, and at the same time, they are the first ones to cry when even a small thing goes wrong.
For all their positive thinking mumbo-jumbo, their optimism is short-lived and fragile.
I request you to digress from that mindset. I am not just recommending you to delude yourself into living an imaginary scenario of a possible future. I am instructing you to live it now, in the present and make it happen.
That is how reality is made. Not by just dreaming, but by strategizing, planning and getting shit done.
It is difficult. I agree. But not impossible.
See, it is an interesting contrast.
On one hand I ask you to avoid positive thinking (at least in the short-term), but at the same time, I ask you to be extremely optimistic about your future.
As Warren Buffett, one of the top billionaires says,
“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”
I prescribe something similar.
‘You should be a pessimist when others are optimistic. You should be an optimist when others are pessimistic.’
Yeah sure, you are not going to be the most popular person in the room by adopting that view. But you are going to succeed far above them, on any metrics.
You too can make a decent income online, without compromising your creativity. Let me show you how!
Join 1500+ creators & artists, in their journey. Subscribe to my newsletter.
